Mobility scooter access at local businesses, not enough rideshare opportunities and regional transportation at reasonable rates were just some of the issues raised at a mobility and transportation talk in Keremeos last week.
Organized by the Community Foundation (CFSOS) and the Lower Similkameen Community Services Society, the July 24 event drew about 30 people from Keremeos, Cawston, Olalla and Hedley to the Seniors’ Activity Centre to discuss how to improve mobility and transportation in the communities of the Similkameen Valley.
The two-hour discussion covered how residents want their community to grow, what mobility issues they face and how mobility can remedy these issues.
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While it focused largely on issues seniors face, like ice on sidewalks in the winter, delivery of groceries and prescription medication and getting to and from medical appointments in cities. But Wilfrid Mennell from Cawston said young people, especially the region’s transient workforce, are also at risk when proper transportation between communities is not available.
“When hitchhiking is a default and the only means of getting in and out of the community and particularly for young women, this is not a good place to be,” Mennell said.
“I come from the agricultural part of the community and we’re reliant upon young transients. Those young transients don’t necessarily have a voice but they are a very important part of our community and a very important part of our business. I think it’s important that they should at least be able to get in and out of the community or at least be safe.”
Lee McFadyen suggested that taxi rides for seniors and others going short distances are a realistic alternative for those who don’t own vehicles.
“A car is convenient but a taxi will do the job, not if you are going 25 kilometres out, but certainly for the closer area,” she said.
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Regional community development officer with CFSOS Kim English organized and lead the discussion and suggested individuals schedule appointments and errands at the same time so they could split the taxi costs.
One solution to a problem seniors face was to speak with Similkameen businesses to find out what services they provide for customers who have mobility issues, such as delivering groceries and medications, Heather Walkus said.
Apollo Figueiredo, a planner with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen who attended the event, said there are many challenges, especially in connecting communities in the region.
“In terms of transportation, there is a lot we can do going forward in terms of access to transportation and access to regions and health services because that is apparently a big gap that is emerging,” he said.
“Providing safe corridors for people to travel, not so much along the street, but actual trials and sidewalks that get people to commercial places that they need to go to. Food security and getting to a grocery store and back home is a big challenge is also what I am hearing.”
Mayor Manfred Bauer said the problems that have been identified at the discussion are not new. He said it all comes down to paying for better transportation—which is expensive.
“It all costs money. We can five buses, we can have 10 buses, but who is going to pay for it? Between Manning Park and the east end of Cawston, we have 10,000 people. A third of them aren’t even here for part of the year because they are summer holiday people. We are dealing with a very small amount of tax revenue,” he said.
“It really comes down to this, you live in a rural setting, you will have challenges even if you don’t personally have challenges, whether it’s visual or hearing or mobility, it will be more difficult. We only have so much money.”
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